1. Field of the Invention
The technique disclosed in the present specification relates to a wireless connecting system for connecting a network apparatus to a wireless network, and a network apparatus used in the wireless connecting system. Note that the term “network apparatus” in this specification is an apparatus capable of communicating information by wireless communication, and the term “wireless network” refers to a network apparatus group constituted of two or more network apparatuses wirelessly communicable to each other. Therefore, the minimum wireless network is constituted of two network apparatuses. “The network apparatus is connected to the wireless network” means that the network apparatus is one of the devices that constitutes the wireless network. Therefore, “connect the network apparatus to the wireless network” means that the network apparatus joins the wireless network as one of the device(s) that constitutes the wireless network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wireless network such as a wireless LAN in which wireless communication is performed among a plurality of network apparatuses is known. In the case of wirelessly sending information from the network apparatus, radio signals may reach a network apparatus outside the wireless network (network apparatus of the other persons, for example). Therefore, a typical wireless network has a predetermined wireless setting that is commonly used among the constitutive network apparatuses of the wireless network. The wireless setting is a regulation (authentication scheme or encryption scheme, for example) for wireless communication. For sending information wirelessly from a network apparatus to another network apparatus, a corresponding wireless setting is necessary between the receiving side and the sending side in order to receive the right information. In the following, the wireless setting that is common among constitutive network apparatuses of a wireless network shall be referred to as network wireless setting. Constitutive network apparatuses of a wireless network communicate wirelessly with each other using the network wireless setting. Therefore, even if radio signals reach a network apparatus that is external to the wireless network, the information sent is unreadable by the apparatus. For connecting a new network apparatus to such a wireless network (specifically, in the case of a new network apparatus to join the wireless network), it is necessary to make the new network apparatus wirelessly communicable in accordance with the network wireless setting.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/148326 discloses a wireless connecting system in which a new network apparatus can be connected to a wireless network of an infrastructure mode (mode in which network apparatuses communicate wirelessly by means of an access point). In this wireless connecting system, a predetermined network apparatus that constitutes a wireless network (hereinafter referred to as a sending side network apparatus) is wirelessly connected to the new network apparatus in an ad-hoc mode (mode in which network apparatuses make one-to-one wireless communication without an access point). The sending side network apparatus wirelessly sends the network wireless setting of wireless network (more specifically, the authentication scheme or the encryption scheme of the infrastructure mode is sent; which hereinafter is referred to as an infrastructure wireless setting) in accordance with ad-hoc wireless setting. The new network apparatus receives the infrastructure wireless setting in accordance with ad-hoc wireless setting. Therefore the new network apparatus becomes possible to wirelessly communicate in accordance with the received infrastructure setting. Specifically, the new network apparatus can be connected to a wireless network of the infrastructure mode.